Hughes Columbia Columbia Flying Junior For Sale & Buying Center

"The ""Flying Dutchman Junior"" was originally designed, in Holland, by Van Essen, a well虺nown Dutch boat designer. Listed as co苓esigner was Conrad Gulcher, Dutch Olympic sailor. (Gulcher and Van Essen also collaborated on the Flying Dutchman Conrad Gulcher served as International Class Secretary for both classes for many years, and was a main driving force behind both the International Flying Dutchman, and International (FJ) Flying Junior classes until his death in 1989.

The first FJ was built of cold衫olded wood, and was tested on the water in December, 1995.

The original purpose of the ""Flying Dutchman Junior"" was to serve as a junior trainer for the then new Olympic Flying Dutchman (FD). The FD is a much larger( 19'10""), faster, and more physical class than its younger sister. The FJ rules also allowed (and still allow) many of the same technical innovations as the FD, and the boat was (and still is) ideal to teach newer sailors the intricacies of tuning, mast rake and bend, etc. so important to top-level competitive sailing.

The Class' name was quickly changed to ""Flying Junior"" as the class developed on its own, and the Flying Junior Class Organisation was free and independent of the Flying Dutchman organisation by about 1960.

FJ Gets IYRU International Class Status

By the early 1970's, the Flying Junior was accorded the status of an International Class by the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU)- pre-cursor to the ISAF.

This prestigious status is applied only to sailing classes with strict one-design rules, that are sailed the world over, and that regularly have international competition- such as World and Continental Championships. The International Sailing Association (ISAF) (replacement organisation for the IYRU) currently governs the Class Rules of the International FJ Class. As an International Class, rights and control of the boat design rest with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

Today (2000), the International FJ is sailed in Japan, Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, and the USA.

The Class Rules of the FJ allow any deck design; Dusseldorp FJs utilised a doublebottom design, especially suited to open-water sailing. Note the open transom, allowing large amounts of water to escape almost as fast as it can enter the hull. These hulls were the fastest FJs for at least the first 15 years of the Class' existence. They are still competitive today.

From the beginning, the Class Rules of the FJ allowed any individual, or company to build the boat."